I am one of those people who politically correct individuals
feel the need to say “Happy Holidays” to instead of “Merry Christmas”, due to
the fact that my mother is Jewish and my father, Lutheran. Celebrating both
holidays with both sides of the family usually requires an intricate mix of
planning, flexibility and, now more than ever, luck. Fortunately, while one
holiday remains fixed on a particular day, the other one affords me an eight-day
sliding scale for when we can plan to celebrate as a family. And as fate has
it, they usually overlap at some point. Here's how I celebrated them both this year...
Act 2, Part A: Hanukah
(When conscious, Sydney totally appreciated the Firetruck ride)
Family traditions, like records (minus my HS 800 track
record) are meant to be broken, or at least evolve over time. With one brother
married with two kids, the young one engaged and mom living in a fire station
that also acts as a barbecue joint, you can see how our traditions would have to have evolved. Somehow, each unit
was able to come together on the same night at the firehouse for a Hanukah
celebration that I can all but guarantee is unique.
The usual suspects were there, of course: the potato
pancakes, brisket, lighting of the candles and the songs. Long since memorized,
we’ll have to wait until Georgia (4) and Sydney (2) are old enough to read
before we break out the paper notes once again. We exchanged gifts, no longer
closing our eyes until mom lays them down in front us; with little kids around,
this seems ridiculous, though I’d be lying if I said I couldn’t remember the
last time we passed out gifts in this manner.
(Wichita's Fire House Trolley, all lit up)
(Wichita's Fire House Trolley, all disappeared)
After gifts were opened and hugs and kisses exchanged, we
did what I assume all proper Jewish families do: loaded up beer in eco-friendly
bags and hopped on a fire truck to drive around Wichita, seeking out Christmas
lights. The Cummings family came along, giving us all a chance to catch up.
With heated seats and a see-through retractable screen, the Wichita’s Fire House Trolley (yours to rent from Jet BBQ) is about as comfortable as is
possible in the winter. I’ve benefited from thousands of dollars worth of free
Firetruck rides from The Jetman, but with the whole family there, plus the
Cummings, the lights and onlookers, the beer and heated seats, this was one of
the most enjoyable tours of Wichita. Hope no one has plans for next year, because I've already reserved the firetruck.
(Mom and I keeping it real)
Act 2, Part B: Christmas
(The storm before the calm - just hours after this...the house was quiet)
Fresh off a successful turkey day, the Whantner clan
reunited once again, this time for the annual X-mas celebration. If
Thanksgiving in the new house was crazy – and it was – Christmas was a bit more
subdued. This year marked an odd confluence of familial responsibilities that
made it possible for us all to be together for Christmas Eve Night – when we
have our family celebration – but not much more than that.
Eric, Melissa and the girls were staying with her parents
this year. David and Jess left after we opened gifts to head back to KC to be
with her family. Matt and Bethany also had responsibilities with her family as
well. I’m sure that if Melody’s family wasn’t living in Chicago (and VS
actually gave her time off for the Holidays), it would be my turn to spend the
holidays with them. The “other family” year - an interesting wrinkle as our
family expands in numbers and commitments.
This is not a problem at all, though. It’s wonderful that
the individuals we’ve invited into our Whantner circle also have loving and
caring families, and a place to spend time with family during the Holidays. And
it makes the non-off years that much more special, and of course awesome. And
we still get some time together. So we make the best of it.
The only downside I see, in fact, is that somehow I was
swindled into watching the first two The
Santa Claus movies, the ironic result of a gag gift gone wrong. David,
Eric and I bought the The Santa Claus trilogy
(really - they made 3 of them?) for
Matt and Bethany last year after they proudly claimed to have watched them all in the span of a
weekend. The $30 dollars bought us a plethora of smiles last year, but a dearth
of them this year. At one point it was dad and I watching the second
installment – JUST dad and I – together on his new 110-inch projector. We did
this with the full knowledge that all three Jurassic Park
movies were within our reach…
I had a real nice December 25th with Dad and
Linda, going for a nice morning jog around Terradyne, our old neighborhood.
Nostalgia warmed me against the cool weather as I passed our old house, the
swimming pool we used to visit, the clubhouse and the spot in the middle of the
road where Chad and I once painted a chalk outline of a “dead guy” with an
almost-empty can of Cool Whip. Not sure if the parents know about this, but I
claim “Statute of Limitations”.
Dad grilled some mean steaks for Linda and I, and I actually
spent the night at Matt’s apartment before heading home the next day. With the
brothers and their sig others coming and going, it was one of the calmest and
most relaxing Holiday’s in recent memory. Different, but even so, very fun. But
still, I can’t wait until next year, when it’ll be all 12 of us in the new
house. Maybe 13 if Melody has her way about it...
As a funny bookmark to this Holiday experience, check out the Gparents' attempt to take a mini-family picture before church.
(Grandma & Grandpa: Check. Granddaughters: Check. We're all set, right?)
(Take one: Sydney - that was a heckuva sneeze. Reagan - take a look at Georgia and smile just like that. Well done.)
(Take two: Reagan - you're almost there. Sydney - you're looking at the camera, now smile this time. Georgia - that's perfect. Stay just like that)
(Take three: Georgia - NOOOOO. You know Reagan's got a great smile going on back there. At least the grandparents had it down)
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